Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Charlotte Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your retail store, then it’s possible have gotten a official warning from the USDA. This letter is most likely a SNAP violation notice, which is alleging you are in violation of the SNAP program. The government will attach a number of pages to the SNAP violation letter, and it will contain records of transactions which occurred at your grocery store which the government claims violates one or more categories of violations.

The first thing after you get a SNAP violation notice, you should speak to our our legal team. Remember, you have only ten days to respond to the letter. If you don’t respond, the USDA will terminate/suspend your grocery store’s ability to accept EBT.

About The SNAP Program

This program helps families with money each month. The SNAP program benefits are distributed via an EBT card. The benefits on the card cannot be used for general use, and they cannot be used for fraudulent cash back services. The EBT cards took over for food stamps in the 1990’s and the card is issued by each state individually which the SNAP participant lives. This program is operated on a national level by the government.

The SNAP program and the benefits that come with it are governed by the United States Code and the Code of Federal Regulations. The USDA FNS agency enforces the regulations and runs the program.

What’s a SNAP Violation

Snap violations happen when a store is in violation of the following rules.

The store was involved intrafficking SNAP benefits. This can mean fraudulently accepting the benefits, or stealing the benefits.

The retail store took SNAP benefits in exchange for nonfood items like alcohol, tobacco, or other goods.

The store submitted false information on your store’s application to accept EBT benefits.

Your grocery store redeemed more EBT food stamps than actual food sales over the same period.

Your employees have taken SNAP benefits from someone who shouldn’t be allowed to use the benefits.

How we can help defend you against a SNAP violation notice

Spodek Law Group has experience managing SNAP violations letters. Our law firm can handle your SNAP Violation appeal in all phases of a SNAP Violation action.

The charging letter is the initial step which is going to be taken by USDA to remove your right to take EBT benefits. This letter may come with no warning and can happen at any time. The SNAP violation letter will have allegations in it, but most letters will mention violations, have evidence attached proving the violations. Your response to the SNAP violation letter is due within 10 days. Once you hire Spodek Law Group, we handle all of the communicationswith the USDA and for compiling all the necessary evidence, and drafting a response to the USDA.

Once the USDA reviews your answer to the SNAP violation letter, the USDA may still feel that your store has violated the rules. If this happens, the USDA will definitely send a second letter that outlines the agencies decision to suspend or disqualify the grocery store based on the accusations previously mentioned. You have 10 days to appeal this. If you don’t, then you’ll be stuck with the USDA decision. After you hire our law firm, we’ll file the necessary paperwork and notify the USDA we are going to appeal their decision. We’ll collect necessary evidence, and our team will generate an appellate brief containing all of the legal laws, evidence, etc. which is needed to change the outcome of the violations.

If the USDA refuses to overturn the binding decision, in the Administrative Review, our lawyers will file a Judicial review at the local Federal Court. This process is like a normal court case, where you’ll be able to do discovery, file motions, and have a trial. We can handle these cases in all 50 states.

SNAP Violations

As a grocery store retailer, there’s a lot of rules and regulations have to obey in order to accept EBT. In most normal situations, many retail store owners don’t run into problems. However, USDA’s SNAP program can be tricky. SNAP handles the Electronic Benefits Transfer Card, and has limits on how the funds can be used. For example, people getting SNAP benefits cant get electronic goods. If, and when, you violate the laws, you’ll probably get a SNAP violation letter. Penalties of violating SNAP can result in severe and business crushing penalties. If you conduct a serious SNAP violation, then you might end up with either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In most cases, owners of grocery stores didn’t know SNAP violations are even occurring. Often, it’s dishonest employees who are misusing the SNAP EBT program. It’s helpful to consult with a SNAP violation appeals lawyer to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a charge letter is delivered to your store, you have only ten days to respond to the claims by the USDA. Your failure to respond to the violations will permanently crush your store. In addition, the USDA will make a verdict even though you don’t respond to the allegations. In the absence of a SNAP violation attorney, you won’t be able to retain EBT benefits. Retaining a SNAP violation lawyer gives you the ability to fight for your rights. Our SNAP appeals lawyers will fight the decision of the USDA and appeal any decision. The fines imposed can be huge – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA purposefully chooses to impose large fines to in order to curb future violations. The USDA will look to see if you have a store compliance policy in place. The policy must be in writing at the store and in effect when the allegations were filed.

The grocery store also be able to prove the above mentioned policy was in place before the charge, and was not drafted after the violation letter. The USDA typically also looks in order to check if the retail store owners benefited in any way from the fraud, or were aware of the violation. Any involvement of the management can lead to disqualification.

We highly recommend any owner that receives a letter speak to with a SNAP violation attorney. Choosing not to respond in negative consequences. The USDA is required by Congress to issue a disqualification for a period of up to 5 years. This can result in huge losses which are hard to recover from.